Ellie's First Christmas

Baby Ellie had her very first Christmas and she really didn't know what to think...although we think that we get a do-over next year since Daddy missed this one. I say this one really doesn't count. They all looked so cute in their matching jammies, as you can see our little baby isn't so little anymore...she weighs 14 pounds. The girls sing her a song they made up about Ellie with a belly full of jelly and her belly is sure full of something. She is my little Christmas ball!!

Grace Christmas Morning

Grace was so sweet this morning she got in bed with me in the middle of the night and then this morning said to me "mommy why did you put me in bed with you, were you lonely" yeah no I told her that she got into bed with me all by herself and she didn't believe me, she thinks that Santa did it, she said I must be your present from Santa!! Santa sure has a funny sense of humor!

Madelynn on Christmas Morning

Here is sweet little Madelynn tearing into things...She must have been a good girl

because Santa brought her a glamor girl cupcake maker!! She can't wait to bake them, and mommy is so excited to eat them, since I am the only one she can feed them to...man what was Santa thinking!

Our sweet little Ellie Bell

Ellie has taken to sucking her thumb and she can finally find it all by herself. It

is really cute. I thought that she was to cute to pass up the other day while she was sleeping

Grace Singing Jingle Bells

Grace wants to help all of you get in the holiday spirit. Here she is singing Jingle Bells. Enjoy :) She is the one dancing to her own beat on the end!!

We had breakfast with Santa this morning and Ellie sat with Santa, Santa offered to hold her however I didn't trust the 18 year old Private that was dressed up as Santa to hold my 2 month old!! Her shirt said "Dear Santa, I have been good all year, just ask my mommy!! " And she has been very good all year, the whole two months that she has had of this year!! She had a reindeer hat with antlers too but since this is Hawaii a stocking cap didn't last long!! She was so hot!! The older girls took pictures too but I haven't gotten them emailed to me yet but when I do I will post them too.

The Girls

We had these taken about three weeks ago so Ellie Bell was 5 weeks old and honest to God this was the very first time she smiled. I can't believe what great timing she had!! I guess that she knew that her daddy needed to see some of her firsts!!

Jason in Iraq

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, we spent ours at the beach enjoying the tropical sunshine, although as most of you know I would prefer snow and falling leaves. I received this picture this morning from MG Hertling who commands the Multinational Divison North or MND North he was visiting the FOBs yesterday and spent some time with Jason. He sent me a very nice email with this picture. I though that you would all enjoy getting to see Jason, and see how he spent his Thanksgiving. The other two men in the photo are one of Jason's Platoon leaders and a Platoon SGT.

We have to start them young!! Here are Jason's Carolina Girls!! Madelynn and Grace LOVE all things Carolina and Carolina Blue, even at 7 weeks Ellie is part of the pack too!!

Update from Iraq

Hello everyone....Jason has been writing a letter home to the families updating everyone on what they are doing in Iraq. I thought that all of you would enjoy reading them as well. Please bear in mind though, these were written to the families of his Soldiers so the wording may seem kind of odd. I hope that you all enjoy and as more come out I will be sure to post them so that you can all keep tabs on him....I don't hear from him hardly at all so these are my updates too, so now you all will know what I know!!

2 November Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

I just wanted to take a few minutes and let you know a little about how things are going with Bravo Company. First, we all made it to Kuwait safely after a long flight from Hawaii. We were received by soldiers from the Battalion when we landed and then taken to our camp. The camp is nice enough and more than serves our purposes for the small amount of time we have to spend in Kuwait. We are living in a large, framed tent with actual doors and a wood floor. We have air conditioners in the tent, so don't worry about your Soldier getting too hot out here in the desert! The dining facility is top-notch and offers and excellent assortment of food four times a day. That's right, we get four square meals a day here. Your Soldiers also have access to an impressive gym (to work off the four meals), a Post Exchange (PX) that includes a Starbucks shop and local merchants, and an impressive Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) center. We also have an Internet and phone center so Soldiers can stay in touch with loved ones back home.

But Kuwait isn't just fun and games and good food. Your Soldiers have been hard at work, too, conducting training that will help prepare them for the next year in Iraq. Some of the training we have conducted is a rifle range, classes on the new equipment we will be using, and classes that teach Soldiers about some of the specific tasks they will be doing in Iraq. All in all, it has been some really good training, with plenty of down-time to allow the Soldiers to stay rested and ready for our mission in Iraq.

As I write this, the Battalion is working on moving Soldiers from Kuwait into Iraq. Bravo Company should be leaving soon. Enroute to our final destination, which is Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bernstein, we will detach 3rd Platoon and attach them to 3-7 Field Artillery Battalion. The Company Commander they will be working for is a former Wolfhound, so they will be in good hands. And even though they will be detached from Bravo Company, we will still be monitoring their situation closely and sending updates to the FRG, so do not think that you will have to go through different channels in order to find out how your Soldiers are doing.

We are all looking forward to getting to our FOB and starting our mission. It is a great time to be here in Iraq as we make history and continue to move forward towards a stable and secure Iraq. And we all know that each day that passes brings us all one day closer to returning home to our family and friends. Take care, and stay strong.

Wolfhounds!

CPT Jason Honeycutt

14 November Letter

Dear Family and Friends,

Since the last newsletter, Bravo Company has made it to our new home at FOB Bernstein. The FOB is fairly large for just one company, so we have plenty of space here. There is a mixture of framed tents, small trailers, and bunkers which are used to house all the soldiers here. The tents have wood floors and framed doors, just like Kuwait, and everyone is sleeping in an actual bed with a mattress (no cots). We have an MWR tent which has Internet computers, phones for calling home, and the Armed Forces Network (AFN) on a big screen TV. We have a dining facility tent where your soldiers receive 3 hot meals a day, and they can grab snacks and drinks from it 24/7. And there are several latrine trailers which contain showers, sinks, and toilets. All, in all, we have everything we need for life support here.

We are continuing to work with the company we are replacing to get as much of their knowledge of this area as we can. We are operating in a large area that is centered on the city of Tuz, which has roughly 80,000 people living in it. There are several villages to the south of Tuz that we also visit. It seems to be a fairly stable area, and we will continue to work towards our main goals of stability, security, and self-governance.

Everyone seems to be happy with both the FOB and our mission here. The most frequent response is, “This is much better than last time.” As we continue to improve the FOB and work towards a stable and secure Iraq, I hope it remains that way.

Wolfhounds!

CPT Jason Honeycutt

Ellie happy and not so happy....

Turns out Ellie doesn't like getting out of the bath very much... We are happy in the bath but the getting dressed after not so much fun...but pretty cute none the less!!

Ellie Bell

She is so darn cute if I must say so myself....and getting nice and plump. She weighs in at almost 11 pounds now, that is almost a pound a week since she was born.

Halloween

Madelynn and Grace made me dress up too, so I was a cat!! Baby Ellie was a wearing a shirt that said my mommies under my spell with a witch on it, I had a pumpkin hat for her to wear too but since it was like 95 degrees outside it didn't happen. Gotta love fall in Hawaii!!

This is the girls and their best friends Madeline and Lexi getting ready to trick-or-treat. Madelynn was Hannah Montana (go figure right) and Grace was her own mis-matched concoction of Tinkerbell. She does have an actual Disney Tinkerbell outfit, however her Auntie Krista and Uncle Jason got her this outfit for her birthday so she is wearing it and calling herself Tinkerbell, she has on a green tutu under the purple one. She must get her fashion sense from her Daddy!!

Grace picking out her pumpkin

Grace spent a very long time finding the perfect pumpkin. Once she was done with that she spent even longer finding little pumpkins for Ellie. In the end we ended up with 20 pumpkins!!

The fact that you can even see these pictures is a feat of its own since I was holding onto all 20 pumpkins and had Ellie in my arms as well as I was trying to take the picture!!

Up Close with Ellie

Ahh...isn't she cute!! She is getting really big she has gained over a pound in 2 weeks!! Now if we could get her to sleep as well as she eats we'd be in the money.

Grace Loving Ellie

Grace sure loves being a big sister!! She is always asking can I hold my Ellie.

Carving Pumpkins

The night Jason left for Iraq we were busy trying to get in as much as possible. Jason spent time carving pumpkins with the girls. He gave them each a marker and let them draw the face and he did the knife handling....can you imagine Grace with a knife!!

Saying Good-Bye

Jason saying goodbye to his girls before leaving for Iraq.

Spending time with Daddy

Here is Jason getting in as much Ellie love as possible. This has been a rough week with Jason leaving in 48 hours. He has been trying to spend as much time with the girls as possible before leaving them for a year. Especially the baby who is going to be so big when he comes home. Madelynn and Grace are being really brave and strong, I think though more for Mommy than for themselves. I am sure that it will sink in more come next week. We are going to miss him so much.

Baby Ellie Baptism

Baby Ellie was Baptised yesterday at Schofield Barracks. Being the good baby that she was she didn't even wake up. She actually slept through the whole thing. Father McCabe was so wonderful and understanding of Jason deploying on Saturday that he cleared his schedule to do the Baptism for our family. The only thing that was missing was Baby Ellie's God Parents, our dear friends Jason and Shilo. We wished they could be here with us but they are always close at heart. We love you guys, thank you for being such special and wonderful people to us and our family.

Ellie, with the hiccups

Ellie, sleeping

Ellie, awake

Pictures of Ellie

More pictures of Ellie. She's sleeping in all of them, since that is what she does when she's not eating. She's a pretty good baby so far, really only crying when she is hungry.

Family Pics with Ellie

Everyone wants to hold Baby Ellie, as she is affectionately referred to around here. So here are some pics of the family, all holding our new addition.